Tuesday, September 23, 2014

By what authority do I do these things?

In Matthew’s deceptively simple parable (Matthew 21:23-32), Jesus invites
his adversaries to look at the future, as one not dominated by the arguments
and opposition of the past, but one that is open to the movement of God’s
spirit to heal, revive, restore, and make all things new.

The chief priests and elders do not accept this invitation. They have too
much invested in the past…their identity has been defined by their own man-made
rules that they have assumed the “authority” to enforce. They have become
dependent on their established identity and they refuse to trade that past for
an unknown future. But look at those who are “down and out,” the dregs of
society, the tax collectors and
prostitutes, who discover that any identity created by their past does not have
to define or follow them into the future; they eagerly grab hold of Jesus’
promise with both hands.

Throughout our readings of Matthew these past weeks, Jesus makes this same
promise to us. We are forgiven solely because there is a forgiver. We are loved unconditionally; we cannot earn or lose God’s
love. No matter what we have done, no matter what may have been done to us, the
future is still open. Whatever hurt we may have experienced or done in the past
is, ultimately…in the past. We do not have to allow the past to define our
future or our identity. We do not have to drag our past around with us and take it out whenever we feel the need to
linger in its memory. We are more than the sum total of all that has happened
to us. The future is open. It may be difficult and seem almost impossible to
let go of the past and walk into the future. After all, the past is a known
entity; it’s familiar to us, whereas the future is so open…it can be scary. But
when we meditate on and invoke the prayer of Thomas Merton, we know
that we are not alone: l will not fear,
for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me alone. No, you will never
leave me alone. (Partner in Preaching, David Lose, 9/22/14)